604 THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. March 22, 1918. CONTRACTS OPEN FOR COAL AND COKE. For Contracts Advertised in this issue received too late for inclusion in this column, see Leader and Last White pages. Abstracts of Contracts Open. Barrow-in-Furness, March 27.—Coal for the Guardians. Forms from the workhouse. Belper, March 25. — Coal for the Guardians. Forms from the clerk, Belper. Brecon, March 27.— Coal for the Brecknock Guardians. Forms from the deputy clerk, 19, Castle-street, Brecon. Burnley, April 2.—Coal for the Guardians. Forms from the Union Offices, Burnley. Clayton (Yorks.), March 28.—Coal for North Brierley Guardians. Forms from the Union Offices, 4, Town Hall- street, Bradford. Croydon, March 25 — Coke for the Guardians. Forms from the Union Offices, Thornton Heath. Dundalk, March 26.—Coal for the Urban District Council. Forms from the town clerk, Town Hall. Easington (Durham), March 27.—Coal and coke for the Guardians. Forms from the master, Workhouse, Easington. Eastbourne, March 25.—3,500 or 7,000 tons of pea coal or slack (not less than % in.) for Electricity Commit- tee. Tenders to the chief engineer, Electricity Depart- ment, Eastbourne. Edgware (Middlesex), March 28.—Coal and coke for Hendon Guardians. Forms from the Union Offices, Edgware. Edinburgh, April 8.—Gas coal (12 months) for Edinburgh and Leith Corporations Gas Commissioners. Forms from A. Masterson, 15, Calton-hill, Edinburgh. Gateshead, March 25.—Coal for the Guardians. Forms from the clerk, Union Offices, Gateshead. Greenwich, March 27.—Coal for the Guardians. Forms from the clerk, Board room, East Greenwich. Hendon, March 28.—Coal and coke for the Guardians. Forms from the Union Offices, Edgware. Hunslet, March 25. —Coal for the Guardians. Forms from the Offices, Glasshouse-street, Hunslet Lanchester, March 28.—Coal and coke (three months) for the Guardians. Tenders to the clerk, Lanchester. Larbert (Stirling), March 27.—Coal for Stirling District Asylum. Forms from the house steward. Liverpool, March 25.—Coal and coke for the Select Vestry. Forms from the clerk, Parish Offices, Brownlow- hill, Liverpool. London, E., March 26.—Coal for Whitechapel Guardians. Forms from the clerk, 74, Vallance-road, London, E. Louth (Lincs.), April 5.—South Yorkshire screened gas coal for the Louth Gaslight Company. Forms from the manager, Gasworks, Louth. Maldon, March 27.—Coal for the Guardians. Forms from the master, Institution, Maldon. Manorhamilton, March 28.—Scotch coal (six months) for the Guardians. Forms from the clerk, Workhouse, Manorhamilton. Melton Mowbray, April 8.—Coal for the Melton and Belvoir Hospital Committee. Forms from the clerk, Melton Mowbray. Poplar, March 27.—Coal for the Poplar Guardians. Forms from the clerk, 45, Upper North-street, Poplar. Quakers’ Yard (Glam.), March 28.—Steam coal for the South Wales and Monmouthshire Truant School. Forms from the superintendent, Quakers’ Yard. Rosslynlee (Scotland), March 30.—Coal for the Midlothian and Peebles Asylum. Forms from the clerk, 19, Heriot-row, Edinburgh. Stirling, March 27.—Coal for Stirling District Asylum* Larbert. Forms from the steward. Stockton-on-Tees, March 26.—Coal for the Guardians. Forms from the clerk, Stockton-on-Tees. Warrington, March 26.—Coal and slack for the Guardians. Forms from the clerk, Bewsey Chambers, Warrington. Wellingborough, March 26.—Coal and coke for the Guardians. Forms from the clerk, Wellingborough. Wigan, March 25. — Coal for the Guardians. Forms from the Poor Law Institution, Wigan. Willesden, March 27.—Coal and coke for Willesden Guardians. Forms from the' clerk, 357, High-road, Brondesbury. York, March 27.—Coal for the Guardians. Forms from the clerk, 1, Museum-street, York. The date given is the latest upon which tenders can be received. CONTRACTS OPEN FOR ENGINEERING, IRON AND STEEL WORK, Ac. Edinburgh, March 25.—Various.—Refined coal tar, pitch and pitch oil (12 months), for Midlothian County Council. Tenders to A. G. G. Asher, County Buildings, Edinburgh. Southport, March 28.—Supplies.—Castings, smithy iron, shovels, bolts, nuts, oils, etc., for the Corporation. Forms from the borough engineer. Sutton Coldfield, March 27.—Supplies.—Iron cast- ings, iron and steel, etc (12 months), for the Corporation. Forms from the borough engineer, Council House, Sutton Coldfield. Mr. John Jones, of Britannia House, Loughborough, Leicestershire, retired engineer and ironfounder, left estate of the value of £32,895. The circular issued by the Local Government Board to local councils, setting forth the terms upon which financial assistance in the erection of houses will be granted, has been received nowhere with more interest than in the colliery districts of South Wales, where it is estimated approximately 40,000 houses are required. At least 3,000 are said to be needed in Ebbw Vale area alone. ABSTRACTS OF PATENT SPECIFICATIONS RECENTLY ACCEPTED. 112341. Improvements in the Manufacture of Composi- tion Fuel. C. T. Hopkins, 30, Grove-road, Walthamstow, Essex.—This invention relates to the manufacture of com- position fuel from small coal and soot with or without other ingredients, and is supplemental and additional to Patent No. 14771/1915. It has for its objects the separa- tion and withdrawal of certain by-products in the manu- facture of fuel and the use thereof, in order to cheapen and facilitate its manufacture in manner following :—(a) By making the mixture described in the said patent into a sufficiently liquid condition by the addition of water to make possible such separation and withdrawal, but only so far as to be consistent with the essential quality of the various substances as indicated in their description here- after. (6) By the separation and withdrawal from such mixture of substances of different nature or density which are wholly or partially separated by the water contained in the mixture. That is to say, when mixed, a portion floats on the top of the liquid. The liquid holds in suspension a certain portion of the lighter and finer solids, together with dissolved matter. The residue sinks to the bottom. The proportions vary according to the length of time the mixture is allowed to stand, (c) By the use of either of the separated portions for certain purposes for which they are appropriate. For example, the substances may be used either together or separate or mixed with other portions of coal, soot, cinders, etc., as in the said patent, described as fuel when compressed into blocks in moulds. (Two claims.) 112174. Improvements in Control Gear for Electrically- Driven Cranes. W. S. Hubbard, of Messrs. Taylor and Hubbard, Kent-street Works, Leicester. — The present invention comprises improvements in an electrically-driven crane of the class having a single handle for controlling the power and for operating the lifting clutch, in which, in one direction of motion, the handle operates the motor controller, and in the direction at right angles it operates a switching device, which, in one position, energises the brake release magnet through the controller, and in the other position energises the brake release magnet inde- pendently of the con- troller, and also energises the release magnet for the lift- j i/z****x'\ ing clutch. Fig. 1 dt is a side view of a j—& d crane showing all n the parts essential to the present inven- I tion. The electric *—---------' motor 1 is adapted for the winding operations as well as for other motions of the crane. Its shaft 2 carries the band brake 3 pass- ing over a pulley 4, and is connected to a shaft 5 by means of bevel wheels 6, 7. The shaft 5 drives a pinion 8 through a clutch 9, and the pinion 8 gears with the large spur wheel 10 secured to the spindle 11 of the winding drum 12. The band brake 3 is held out of action by a solenoid 13 when the latter is energised. The friction clutch 9 is operated through toggle levers 14 by the weight of the plunger or core of a second solenoid 15. This sole- noid, however, when energised, raises the levers 14 and releases the clutch 9. The main operating handle 16 has a primary rocking motion about the pivot 17, which motion, through a pair of levers 18 and a toothed segment 19, operates the spindle 20 of the motor controller 21. In the mid position in this plane the handle 16 cuts the electric supply entirely off, but is moved in one direction, which causes the motor 1 to run one way, and in the other direc- tion the motor 1 is reversed. (Three claims.) 112287. Improvements in Combined Pumps and Electric Motors. Submersible and J.-L. Motors Limited, J.-L. Works, Johnson-street, Southall; and C. W. Durnford, 4, St. Stephen’s-avenue, West Ealing. — This invention relates to combined pumps and electric motors of the kind adapted to be operated or run when submerged in water, and in which the pump supplies water to the motor for cooling purposes. According to this invention, means are provided for controlling the flow of water before it enters and when it leaves the motor casing. Preferably the flow of water is controlled by means of needle valves, which form part of the pump and motor structures. By provid- ing means for controlling the flow of water both at the inlet and outlet to the motor, the advantage is obtained that the pump and motor set can be easily adjusted for operating when submerged at different depths. The inven- tion also comprises an improved construction of pump and motor set as hereinafter described, which is generally more effective for the purpose for which it is intended, and is less liable to breakdown than those hitherto proposed. (Ten claims.) 112292. Improvements in Rotary Pumps, etc. A. E. Lole, Park House, Main-road, Jacksdale, Nottingham.— This invention relates to improvements in rotary pumps and the like of the centrifugal type, and its object is to increase their efficiency, and more particularly to obviate in pumps used for pumping water or other fluids the destructive action of the fluid on the impeller and the interior of the casing. This destructive action, which takes the form of perforating and bulging the impeller, and pitting of the interior of the casing, leading ultimately to complete perforation, is set up when a certain pressure or head of water is exceeded, and the height to which water can be raised by such pumps with economy is there- fore restricted. According to this invention, the outlet into the tangential delivery pipe is reduced to about the same capacity or area as one of the impeller blades by means of a fixed abutment in the casing, which extends from the inner side of the outlet, concentric with and set fairly close to the end of the impeller blades. The end of this abutment, which points in the reverse direction to the direction of rotation of the impeller, is formed with an approximately triangular shaped gap, the base of which is at the end of the abutment, so that the impeller blades when passing the abutment move from the wider end or base to the apex of the gap, and the delivery from each blade is thus cut off gradually, instead of instantaneously, as in existing pumps of this type. The invention may be applied not only to pumps for raising water or other fluids, but to rotary pumps for forcing water through air extract- ing ejector or like mechanism, and to rotary air blowers, compressors, or fans. Fig. 2 is a sectional side view of a rotary pump of the same type constructed according to this invention. According to this invention, a centrifugal pump with a volute shaped casing is provided with a con- centric part or wall on the inner side of the outlet, and said concentric part is formed with a double incline set at an angle to the impeller blades. In order to obtain this result, the main discharge opening C into the tangential delivery pipe D (see fig. 2) is situated at a instead of at the usual point b, the space between a and b is occupied by an abutment or wall F in the casing B, which wall is concentric with the impeller A, and is provided with an opening G forming a continuation or extension of the dis- charge opening C. This opening G is continued with a gradually decreasing width from a back to the point b, where it terminates. The continuation opening G in the wall F is approximately in the form of an isosceles triangle. The interior of the casing B is also preferably made con- centinc with the impeller from the point b, where the con- tinuation outlet G terminates, up to the point c, or about one-sixth of its circumference, in order to prevent the possibility of water returning from the delivery pipe D, back to the main casing B. The construction permits of the discharge outlet C being reduced in area or approxi- mately to the capacity of each impeller blade A1 without affecting the efficiency or the volume of fluid the pump will raise, and it helps to give the ideal conditions of working, that is, the maintenance of a uniform velocity of the fluid at the discharge outlet. The best conditions are obtained when the outer wall of the outlet C is approxi- mately parallel with the inner concentric wall F, as shown in fig. 2, as the fluid then maintains a constant velocity until it has passed the end of the extension of the dis- charge opening G in the concentric wall F, and it has been practically proved that the destructive action, whether due to the particular cause previously stated or not, is entirely obviated by the construction described and shown. The result is that fluid can not only be raised to greater heights or against higher pressures with such pumps with- out the rapid deterioration described, but the same quan- tity can be raised with the expenditure of less power. (Five claims.) 112329. The Recovery of Ammonium Chloride from Ammoniacal Liquor, etc. H. Baker, 47, Longrein’s-road, Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire. — The free ammonia is boiled or driven off, and recovered by the everyday methods in the form of ammonia salts, liquid, or gas. The liquor is then further treated for the extraction of the cyanides, in a known way by treating with the oxides or chlorides of any of the following metals : Copper, tin, silver, alumi- nium, nickel, either singly or in a mixture among them- selves. Such a process is described in Specification No. 110819. It has before been proposed to treat gas liquor with a chloride of calcium or barium, or with other substances which react with the ammonium sulphate pre- sent, and precipitate an insoluble sulphate, and leave ammonium chloride in solution. In such a process it has been proposed to evaporate the solution, crystallise out the ammonium chloride, and purify it by calcining, treat- ing with water, separating the insoluble matter, and crystallising the salt. On the other hand, use salts of metals which do not precipitate the sulphate, but which combine with and precipitate the cyanides in the insoluble condition. The clear liquid obtained after the cyanides have been extracted is then further treated with sul- phuretted hydrogen, or unpurified coal gas, or a mixture of these two gaseous compounds. This is to precipitate any remaining compounds used in the extraction of the cyanides. The resulting clear liquid from this treatment is then evaporated to dryness or concentrated to crystalli- sation, and the ammonium chloride thus obtained is in a marketable and fairly pure condition, but is further purified by sublimation. The object of this invention is to recover the ammonium chloride contained in crude ammoniacal liquor in a decolorised and practically pure condition by the total extraction of the cyanides in the first place. In other processes, where the crude chloride salt obtained from gas liquor is re-crystallised or has only had the sulphate extracted, the salt thus obtained is of a very dark colour, and contains all the soluble cyanides; whereas the salt obtained in this process after the cyanides have been removed is only slightly discoloured, and quite fit for commercial use, the pure salt being obtained from this by sublimation. It has before been proposed to treat ammoniacal liquor with iron and zinc compounds to separate the precipitate, and evaporate the clear liquor to obtain ammonium chloride, which may be purified by sublimation; but the compounds hereinbefore described are much more suitable for the purpose, as iron compounds, for instance, are most objectionable in the presence of ammonium chloride. (One claim.) 112407. Improvements in Miners’ Safety Lamps. W. Sandbrook, 9, Lancaster Park-road, Harrogate. — The objects of the present invention are to provide an improved and self-contained form of extinguishing device, which is adapted to fit any miner’s safety lamp ; to facilitate the re-fitting of the fusible plugs ; and to improve and simplify the valve or cut-off mechanism. In the lamp described in a prior specification (No. 13502/1893), the seating for the extinguisher was carried by a fixed flange or ring forming part of the frame of the lamp, and on to which the outer shield was screwed; and the spring for ensuring the descent of the extinguisher was located between the inside crown of the outer shield and the top or cut-off valve of the said extinguisher. Fig. 1 represents a vertical section through a lamp provided with the improved extinguishing means in accordance with the present invention. This view shows the extinguisher in its novel raised position. Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the extinguisher show- ing same in its lowered position after the fusing of the plug, the interior of the lamp being isolated from the exterior. Fig. 3 is a top side plan of the extinguisher showing the catch for holding the pin which carries the fusible plug. In figs. 1 to 3, the extinguisher comprises a sleeve 1 contained within an outer perforated protector cover or cage 2, having a perforated top 3, and adapted to be secured, by riveting, soldering, or the like, within an